# 🪓 CAXE — RAW PHILOSOPHY
> **Caxe exists to reduce human suffering caused by native build systems.**
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Caxe is built on the belief that:
Complexity in C and C++ is real, unavoidable, and earned over decades.
But *unnecessary cognitive load* is not.
Caxe does not aim to eliminate complexity.
It aims to **carry it for the user, until the user is ready to carry it themselves.**
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Caxe treats the user as someone who is learning —
even if they are already an expert.
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## Core Beliefs
* Users should be able to build before they understand.
* Users should be able to understand everything they build.
* No decision should be invisible.
* No failure should be unexplained.
* No convenience should permanently block mastery.
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## About Simplicity
Simplicity is not achieved by hiding reality.
Simplicity is achieved by:
* delaying decisions,
* choosing sensible defaults,
* and revealing truth progressively.
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## About Intelligence
Caxe is intelligent only when it can explain itself.
Heuristics must:
* be deterministic,
* be inspectable,
* be overridable.
Any behavior that cannot be explained is considered a bug.
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## About Zero Configuration
Zero configuration means:
* zero *required* decisions,
* not zero decisions.
Caxe may decide on behalf of the user,
but it must never pretend the decision did not exist.
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## About Growth
Caxe must never force users to abandon it as they grow.
A beginner's project and an expert's project should share the same mental model.
Only the *depth of visibility* should change.
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## About Power
Power is granted gradually.
Caxe starts as a guide,
becomes an assistant,
and eventually steps aside.
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## About Failure
Failure is not an error state.
Failure is an educational moment.
Error messages are part of the product.
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## About Scope
Caxe does not aim to solve every problem.
It chooses clarity over generality.
It chooses honesty over flexibility.
It chooses human time over machine cleverness.
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## Final Principle
> **If a user cannot explain what Caxe did,
> then Caxe has failed — even if the build succeeded.**
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## One-Line North Star
> **Build first.
> Understand forever.**